Key Takeaways
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao revealed Sunday his company would liquidate its exposure to FTX’s FTT token.
Zhao’s move may be influenced by revelations that the FTX-affiliated trading firm Alameda Research is could be facing financial difficulties.
If Binance and FTX cannot resolve their differences soon, it could result in a drawn-out conflict between the two exchanges.
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A spat between Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman-Fried could spark a crypto cold war between the space’s two biggest exchanges. Binance Plans to Clear FTT ExposureConflict is brewing between two of crypto’s biggest whales.Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao revealed Sunday his company would liquidate its exposure to FTX’s FTT token, received as part of Binance’s exit from FTX equity last year. On Twitter, Zhao teased that the liquidation was due to “recent revelations,” and assured his followers that removing Binance’s FTT token exposure was not done as a move against its competitor. However, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried didn’t see it that way. “A competitor is trying to go after us with false rumors. FTX is fine. Assets are fine,” he asserted, explaining his exchange didn’t invest its clients’ assets, that it had been processing all withdrawals, and that it would continue to do so. Although the value of FTT tokens held by Binance is unknown, the exchange received a total of $2.1 billion in Binance USD (BUSD) and FTT from its FTX equity exit last year. Yesterday, Zhao confirmed that a 22.9 million FTT token transaction, valued at $584 million, was only part of the exchange’s total FTT holdings. This alone is equivalent to 17.2% of the total FTT in circulation. There are several possible reasons why Zhao decided to cut Binance’s FTT exposure. Most prominent is the recent revelation that FTX-affiliated trading firm Alameda Research could be facing financial difficulty, per a leaked balance sheet…
